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“You need to quit being so damn picky.”
With the way he was feeling about Ellen he needed to be pickier than ever. “Considering the situation, I doubt you truly mean that.”
“What?”Stuart said.
“Nothing,” Hendrix replied and disconnected.
Rocko Schneider, who owned the burger joint next door, stared into the display case at the variety of fancy cakes and pies Talulah had made before she left early this morning. Ellen couldn’t believe he really wanted to order anything. If he did, he was sure taking his time about it. Because he generally parked out back like she did, he had to have seen her truck. He almost always showed up when she was working at the diner.
She guessed he was trying to summon the nerve to ask her out—and wished he wouldn’t. She’d just have to turn him down. For one, she had zero interest. For another, he was almost as old as her father. And his ex-wife still lived in Coyote Canyon and would make her life a living hell. Two months ago, Debbie Schneider had purposely crashed her minivan into the Toyota of the last woman Rocko had tried to date. Ellen knew because it’d been front-page news in the local paper.
Fortunately, no one was seriously injured. Debbie had to pay for the repairs, but other than that, she got off with a slap on the wrist—a traffic ticket and some community service, according to the gossip—which didn’t give Ellen a great deal of confidence that something similar wouldn’t happen to the next woman he dated.
“The coconut almond cake is good,” she suggested, hoping to get Rocko to order and leave.
He smoothed down what little hair he had left, which he’d recently dyed jet-black. He’d also lost some of the bulk around his middle and purchased a motorcycle she’d seen him riding around town in a new leather jacket he wore almost everywhere. “I’m not big on coconut.”
“The chocolate is our most popular dessert. Maybe you’d like a piece of that.”
“I might,” he said, still looking stumped.
Ellen slid her gaze over to the clock on the wall. She had another three hours before she could close at five. She was growing more and more certain that she was finally going to have to tell Rocko she wouldn’t go out with him. She hated being put in that position, but just when he turned to her and opened his mouth, the bell rang over the door. She doubted he’d suggest they go anywhere together if other people were around to overhear, so she would’ve breathed a sigh of relief—except when she looked up, she saw Hendrix and Leo walk in with some woman she’d never met.
The expression on Hendrix’s face made it plain that he hadn’t expected to encounter her, either, but Leo acted as if he couldn’t be more delighted. “Look!” He spoke loudly while pointing at her. “There’s Ellen!”
She couldn’t say how he knew her. They hadn’t had any contact for years. Even then they’d only been together a few times. But she’d seen him around town and could only guess that her name had been bandied about the household—probably the business, too. After what he must’ve heard about her, she couldn’t believe he’d be friendly, but based on what people had told her, Leo was like that. Talulah had said she didn’t think he was capable of having a bad thought about anyone.
When Hendrix didn’t react, Leo tapped him on the shoulder. “Do you see Ellen?”
“I see her, bud,” Hendrix replied, keeping his voice much lower than his cousin’s.
“Hi, Ellen!” Leo waved frantically. “It’s Leo!”
No matter what she thought of her father and Hendrix, Ellen held nothing against Leo. She also knew his excitement over seeing her had to be driving Hendrix crazy, so she decided to play into it.
“Hi, Leo!” She beamed at him just as he was beaming at her. “Have you been in before?”
“I have. I love it here!”
“Wonderful! I have something new you might like. It has strawberries in it. Do you like strawberries?”
His eyes went wide. “Ilovestrawberries, Ellen. But...” he looked seriously torn “...can I have strawberryandchocolate? Because chocolate’s my favorite.”
“Pick only one, Leo,” Hendrix said. “One’s enough for anybody.”
“I could save it,” he said sulkily.
Ellen winked at Leo. “Maybe I can slice off a small taste of the strawberry one, so you can at least try it.”
“She’s going to give me a taste, Hendrix,” he said. “A taste is okay, isn’t it? Can I have a taste?”
Hendrix’s eyes immediately caught and held Ellen’s—and there was a warning in them. He was sizing her up, trying to decide if she was poking fun at Leo and letting her know she’d better not cross that line. His protectiveness actually made her respect him. She’d heard the stories around town, knew how fiercely he’d always stood up for his cousin.
But she shot him a dirty look, anyway—to let him know she took exception to the thought that she might mistreat someone like Leo—and saw him visibly relax. They were more comfortable being enemies than allies. “Did you decide what you’d like?” she asked, turning back to Rocko.
Rocko frowned. “I’ll have a piece of coconut cream pie.”
She blinked in surprise. “I thought you didn’t like coconut.”
